


Echoes

by corvobiancos



Series: Mara Voss Oneshots (Star Wars) [1]
Category: Star Wars, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Emotionally Stunted Characters Refuse To Admit Feelings, Established Relationship, F/M, Gen, i thought the force echoes in jedi fallen order were cool as HELL okay???, so i took that idea and ran with it so this is what came out of it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:48:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24731086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corvobiancos/pseuds/corvobiancos
Summary: I've always preferred non-Skywalker Star Wars content, especially characters that are going through a quest to connect or reconnect with the Force and/or learn about the past, so this is kind of what this (and the whole series of stories) is. Mara Voss has been posing as a smuggler and spying for the Resistance, but has recently rediscovered her connection to the Force since her mother's death almost a decade ago. As a child she was trained by her mother, a former Jedi Knight, who never really told Mara anything about what life was like before the Empire and the Galactic Civil War.Here, Mara witnesses a pivotal moment in her mother’s’ history.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Original Character
Series: Mara Voss Oneshots (Star Wars) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1788220
Kudos: 3





	Echoes

**Author's Note:**

> I was replaying Jedi Fallen Order and got some ideas when I was exploring the Venator crash site on Zeffo.

The woods were silent.

Mara still wasn’t used to silence. After leaving Yavin, she had taken her mother’s old freighter and hired a crew on the first planet she landed on. There was always the drone of other people on the ship doing whatever they were doing while she was up in the cockpit. Sometimes there were arguments about who allegedly stole whose rations, or triumphant laughter during a game of sabacc. But the ship was never truly silent.

That crew was long gone, though. Over the years they had all left on their own, realizing Mara was not paying them nearly enough for their work…which was intentional. She didn’t want anyone staying on board for too long; didn’t want anyone starting to notice where she would wander off to every time they had shore leave, or whose voices they would hear giving her orders in her quarters. She had always figured that if she didn't include anyone in her activities, there were less people to stab her in the back when captured by the First Order.

The only thing that had been with her since the beginning was her family's astromech, V4-R1C. He was the only thing keeping her company since she set out on her own until these past couple days, when Poe had talked his way into joining her for this little detour. She had no earthly idea why he wanted to watch her wander around the outer rim for any crumb of wisdom she could find…but she sort of owed it to him. Mara had flaked on their agreement to enlist as pilots for the navy when they were younger and this was the first time they’d seen each other in years.

Mara’s communicator emitted a few beeps and whirrs; Vee-Four was bored back on the ship and demanding her attention. She replied, “Look, I know you’re bored, but I need to do this before we leave. The Force brought me here for a reason.”

Vee-Four gave her an annoyed whirr through the old communicator in her hand: "What if someone finds us, huh?! What then?!”

Mara rolled her eyes. “This planet’s been uninhabited for decades. We’ll be fine.”

The astromech was silent.

“Don’t be like that,” Mara said, “We’ll be back before you know it.”

She heard Poe say behind her, “We’ve been walking in circles for an hour.” When Mara glanced back at him, she watched Poe look away from an old troop transport and frown at her. “What are you looking for, anyway?”

“I don’t know yet…I’ll know it when I feel it.” She was already feeling something luring her deeper into the forest. Something terrible happened many years ago, but she could still feel the pain of it. Dozens of people were buried there. Dozens of men. Behind her, she heard Poe talking about how “feeling” things was a pretty crappy way to make their way through a huge forest.

But the farther they walked, the more she felt something hopeful among the doom and gloom. Did someone survive?

All of the transport ships she and Poe had found were destroyed, and a handful of old clone helmets were piled inside the ships’ rusting carcasses. The helmets looked familiar; her uncle York had one hiding away back home before he passed away. In her travels she had come across other old wartime crash sites and many of those had small cairns around clone helmets, built in memory of the fallen troopers. Was that what these were supposed to be?

“Is it me, or is this all kinda creepy?” Poe said, picking up one of the helmets and studying it.

Mara took a breath. “I would’ve said depressing.”

Poe put the helmet back down. “I keep seeing all these helmets…so where are their owners?” he mused.

“Dead.” Mara joined him at his transport and knelt down beside its little memorial. She reached slowly for one of the helmets, but as her hand got closer she felt an echo of something. This sometimes happened to her; some objects had powerful memories attached to them and as Mara slowly dug deeper into her connection to the Force, she was starting to be able to feel those memories…hear them…smell them…

But this helmet was different. She hadn’t even touched it yet, and she heard a woman’s voice. She was…weeping. “…Why did they do this? I didn’t do anything wrong…”

Mara worked up the courage to touch it with her hand—

_She felt sick._

_She wanted to cry._

_Or was she angry? She felt like she needed to do this, even though a couple hours ago she was deflecting his own blaster shots back at him, killing him and the rest of these troopers herself. They were her friends. Her family! And within a fraction of a second, a switch had flipped in their heads that made them hell-bent on killing her. If there were any more of them left after that last battle, she wouldn’t be the one doing the burying._

_…Would they even bother burying her? Was that part of their orders?_

Mara took her hand off the helmet. Whoever that was in that echo…Mara felt like she knew that woman, but she had no idea from where.

“Mara? What’s going on?”

She jumped a little as Poe’s hand rest on her shoulder. She needed a moment to focus. Mara was silent as she pushed herself to her feet, feeling a tear fall down her cheek. She blinked a few times and wiped it away with the back of her hand...That usually didn't happen with these kinds of echoes. This was stronger; far more detailed. “Nothing,” she blurt out, already continuing through the forest.

Her normal course of action during these…moments was to just to keep walking. There was a storm of echoes like this all around her, and they were leading her deeper and deeper into the forest as they got more potent. There was something farther north that she needed to see, so she kept going.

The two of them continued trudging through grass and mud for a while longer, until Mara led them to a cave entrance sealed off by roots. She reached for one of the lightsabers clipped to her belt, and Poe deadpanned, “Oh no, if only we had some way of cutting through these things.”

Mara forced a laugh, “Ha ha.” She punctuated her reply by igniting the saber. The deep indigo blade slashed a quick zigzag through the roots. Once the old roots were weakened, she gave them one good shove with the Force. They disintegrated and flew backward into the pitch-dark cavern, echoing against the walls.

Holding her saber out before her, she used the blade’s glow to light their way through. She kept the blade low to the ground to avoid any obstacles. The most she saw were a few rocks and a couple old thermal detonators, the latter of which she almost grazed with the end of her blade. Already jumpy at her near-mistake, she nearly had a heart attack when Poe said, “Wait…wasn’t your mom a general during the war?”

Composing herself, Mara nodded. “Everyone knows that. She liberated the rebel prisoners here on Radhii and took over the entire Imperial base at the end of the war.”

“No,” he replied, masking a chuckle at her getting startled, “I mean during the Clone Wars. She was a Jedi.”

“…Not really. She was a padawan. Her master was an officer.” Mara remembered asking her parents about what everything was like before the Empire, but they never said a word about it. The closest Mara got to learning anything about that time was her mother’s training in using the Force and the latter’s saber-staff, but it was only for Mara to learn to protect herself. Every time Mara tried asking what the galaxy was like when the Jedi Order was still around, her mother quickly changed the subject. It was the same with her father.

Poe asked, “—She ever tell you any stories about it?”

Mara shook her head. “Most of my childhood was spent training to fight some unknown enemy. She was acting like the Empire was still out there, especially after my dad died.”

“Maybe she didn’t want to lose you too.”

She scoffed, “Or her life only ever had meaning when there was a war to fight.” She meant it as a meaningless quip, but the more she thought about it the more Mara realized she was right. As far as she knew, her mother had fought in the Clone Wars only to turn around and fight the Empire. War was probably all her mother knew.

“Can you blame her, though?”

“She kept talking about how there were still Imperials everywhere in the Outer Rim and if I wasn’t careful, they’d come and snatch me.”

“She was smart," Poe replied, "Empires don’t just disappear overnight. There's always remnants scattered around in the aftermath, pretending there’s still a war to fight.”

“The New Republic wasn’t going to let them swoop in and kidnap children, though.” Mara continued leading the way until she saw some daylight ahead of them. “Finally,” she said, “Let’s see what else we can find.”

“You mean you can find. All I'm doing is walking around back here getting covered in mud.”

“You’re giving me someone to talk to instead of myself.” Mara glanced at him over her shoulder and smiled.

Poe chuckled as they emerged from the other side of the tunnel. “I think you would’ve done that anyway.”

Mara flashed him a confused look, shutting off the lightsaber.

“You were babbling about something when you were having your little moment with that helmet back there.”

Well now she didn’t have to wonder how foolish she looked when she did that anymore. Mara just sat there muttering gibberish to herself, apparently. “What was I saying?”

“Your eyes glazed over, and you were talking about having to bury your family,” Poe paused, “…Said something about being scared.” He wasn’t being smug like she remembered him being when they were younger. She expected him to poke fun at her for that. He continued, “…Which was weird, considering we’re the only ones out here.”

Mara sighed, figuring it was best to try to explain it now, rather than later. “That was…an echo in the Force. These helmets we’ve been finding belonged to people she cared about, and she was building these memorials for them after something…really truly awful happened.”

Poe furrowed his brow. “Is this some weird Jedi thing you never told me about?”

“Maybe. I haven’t met anyone else that can do it.”

“So...how does it work?”

Mara shrugged. “It just...happens. Well, it happens on objects attached to strong emotions or memories. Normally I might hear someone say something, or I might smell something. It’s nothing too crazy.”

After a moment of silence, Mara realized he still wasn’t getting it.

She finished, “It’s the Force. I don’t really know how to explain it.”

“Alright,” Poe nodded, but it was still clear that he either didn’t believe her, or just didn’t quite grasp the idea. She recalled the near-impossible maneuvers Poe had pulled off in the Warden when they reunited on Tatooine. The Warden was a large ship, and he got it though a swarm of repurposed TIE fighters to get them into hyperspace...without letting a single blast from a TIE touch the Warden. It had seemed effortless for him, and Mara still wasn’t a master pilot herself. She was convinced that Poe had some sensitivity to the Force, even if he didn’t realize it.

Far ahead of them Mara saw a faint, glowing pillar reaching up and fading into the sky. It was above them, but still farther into the trees. "See that?" she said, pointing up toward it through the foliage above.

A moment passed, and Poe deadpanned, "...No..." He glanced between her and where she had pointed. Maybe she was just hoping for a little too much.

Sighing, Mara explained to Poe, “Something happened up there. Something important.” She led the way onward

“My guess is a battle, and the Republic lost.” Poe sighed behind her.

“Then explain to me why Separatist droids build memorials for Republic soldiers?”

Poe was silent for a moment. “Good point.”

“See what I mean? It wasn't a normal battle. I haven't seen a single dead droid the entire time we've been here.” Mara clipped the saber back onto her belt and looked around them a bit. One of the trees near the tunnel had scorched bark…at eye level. And the mark was drawing her closer the same way the helmet had earlier.

So she decided to see what this would show her; Mara rest her fingertips on the charred bark.

_The commander was disobeying a direct order from the Emperor himself. He had shot down at least a dozen of his men and refused to stop, all for that Jedi._

_“Have you lost your mind? She’s going to kill us all, Commander!”_

_He tried pulling himself away from the tree’s trunk, but that vile Jedi was using the Force to keep him there. The back of his chest plate was digging into his spine, but she didn’t care. She could cry all she wanted, he knew it was all just an act to get sympathy. And his commander had fallen for it. She always had him wrapped around her little finger, and this was no different._

_His commander raised his blaster, but didn’t fire yet. The rifle shuddered as he said, “Do you really expect her to lay down her weapon so you can put her down like an animal?” His wasn’t wearing his helmet, and as much as he tried not to show it his eyes were glazing over. Was he…crying? Why was he crying for the enemy?_

_The padawan didn’t say a word. She was just a dark figure standing behind the commander…Her emotions were strong, though. Her breath hitched in her throat, but if she lost her focus, she would die. How could he say that about her after everything they’d been through?_

_The commander finished, “If anyone wants her, they go through me first.”_

A shot from the rifle rang out, and Mara instinctively stepped back to avoid it. She felt Poe catch her and he said, “I’m guessing that wasn’t just some random lightning strike that caused that, huh?”

Mara could still feel the white-hot fury that clone trooper had felt in his final moments. Her hands had gotten clammy and she had to take a couple breaths to avoid barking at Poe. Mara calmed herself and said carefully, “…I think I’m starting to understand.”

Poe helped her back to her feet. “What happened?”

“The clones were ordered to kill the Jedi at the end of the war, but I think this Jedi escaped. Her commander didn’t turn on her, he protected her.”

“Unless he was just being clever, and we end up finding someone’s fancy lightsaber out there,” Poe said,gesturing toward the last crash site.

Mara shook her head. Why would this commander risk being executed for treason if he was just going to kill her anyway? That would have been too cruel for a man who had tears in his eyes at the thought of killing one of his own men. She replied, “…No. Trust me, he and his Jedi were close.”

Poe flashed her a look. He didn’t need to say a word for her to know what he was thinking: She was being a little too optimistic.

Mara spat, “How about we trust the person who just saw what happened?”

“You saw it with your little Force thing?”

Mara frowned. “Yes, I saw it with the Force thing. Why are you being so skeptical about this?”

“It just seems kinda convenient that you can just see what happened. I thought using the Force was just being just moving stuff around with your mind.”

She watched Poe start wandering toward the last crash site without giving her a chance to explain. “Poe—“ she called, “Just hear me out, okay?” Mara followed him, but he didn’t acknowledge her. She continued anyway, “What’s with you today?”

He stopped, catching his boot in a patch of mud. Poe growled, yanking his foot free before he spoke. “I don’t see how this is gonna help us fight the First Order. The entire time I’ve been helping you, we’ve been going to old temples and ruins just so you can walk around and tell me you’ve learned something important about the past. What do all these old Republic ships have to do with fighting the First Order?”

“I don’t know yet; that’s why we’re here.”

“How much you wanna bet that this has nothing to do with ‘em?”

Mara rolled her eyes. “Well, we won’t know until we have a look around anyway. So just bear with me…” she paused, “…Now…What’s really going on with you?”

“Nothing,” he muttered, “Let’s just keep going.”

“Fine.” Mara could tell she wasn’t going to get anything out of him. He was as stubborn as she was. Instead, she let him lead the way, only taking the lead to clear paths with one of her sabers when needed. They were quiet for the rest of the walk, leaving Mara alone with her thoughts.

…And some faint echoes in the distance. Some blaster fire and a woman’s voice calling out for help in the distance. Men dying.

Mara’s first instinct was to help, but when Poe didn’t react to anyone shouting she realized it was the Jedi’s echo in the Force. Mara and Poe continued trekking through the woods, and as they hiked farther, Mara began to hear that the Jedi was calling for one person in particular:

_York._

Mara’s uncle…well, “uncle.” York had been her mother’s second-in-command for decades. He passed away when Mara was very young but she had fond memories of riding around on his shoulders as a young girl, barking playful orders at him.

York was a clone trooper? That must have been why all these helmets she’d been finding were so familiar. His had his own flair added on: a scanner, a design spray-painted over it…but underneath it was a clone commander’s helmet. York and Mara’s mother had been a smuggler before joining the rebellion, so she had always assumed he had just picked it up on one of their adventures…but it was his from the start. That was why she was brought here.

Wait…

“—Mara? You okay?” Mara blinked and saw that Poe was standing on a ledge above her.

“…My….uncle was here.”

Poe furrowed his brow. “Did your mom take him here for a job back in the day?”

She shook her head. “This was his squadron...during the Clone Wars. These were all his men; all the helmets we’ve been finding. He was their commanding officer.”

“Huh…” Poe mused, “Riveting—can go back to the Warden now?” He pointed lazily toward where they had landed the ship a few miles south. She was tired of hiking through a forest, but she still had a feeling there was more for her there. What else was she supposed to see?

Luckily he was joking. Smirking down at her, Poe knelt down and reached out a hand over the edge. “C’mon, I’ll help you up.”

When she was a child, she would have been able to make the climb effortlessly with a little boost from the Force. But she had gotten out of practice. Mara jogged toward the ledge and jumped, kicking against it for an extra boost to grab Poe’s hand. He strained a little when he pulled her up, saying as she got her footing at the top, “I hope that’s all muscle.”

“Careful,” Mara warned with a grin, “Or I might leave you down here and scrap your ship.”

He flashed her a smile of his own. “Then I hope you’re ready to tell General Organa why her best pilot’s stranded in some useless forest in the middle of nowhere.”

“The general’s best pilot, huh? Somebody’s a little cocky.” She brushed some dirt off her shirt and saw that they had finally arrived at the crash site. The lighthearted feeling disappeared when she saw that the object emitting that blue glow was a tattered old cloak tied to the end of a blaster rifle, flapping in front of a neatly organized memorial of blaster rifles and clone trooper helmets. In the dirt beneath the rifle, something else was hidden under a pile of leaves. As they got closer, she realized there was a pile of two sets of armor bearing the old Jedi Order insignia and an old saberstaff under a thick layer of dirt and leaves.

Maybe she would finally find out which Jedi York served under. Or it might at least confirm some suspicions.

Poe stared at her for a moment and said, “…What ‘re you seeing over there?”

“Nothing yet,” Mara replied, “…I’m just…I dunno.”

He crossed his arms. “Okay, what’s your deal?”

One of her brows quirked upward. Didn’t he owe her an explanation for earlier? “I’ve got this feeling I might already know who’s that is. But…it’s not how I knew her.”

“Knew who?”

Mara didn’t answer. Instead she walked briskly toward the cloak, reached out to untie it from the rifle, and had the strongest vision she had ever had.

_Everything was too quiet. And she was freezing._

_She looked down at her hands, clutching the fabric in her fingers. She didn’t want to leave it here. York had tried talking her out of keeping her staff, but she refused. Her master had taught her never to let her lightsaber out of her sight, and she intended to keep it that way._

_“Hey,” York said softly, “You should at least grab a blaster, just in case.”_

_She was silent. She needed to mourn. Not just her master and their fallen comrades, but for the other Jedi. She had felt it; her brothers and sisters all slain at the same moment she was fighting for her own survival. It was the first time her saberstaff had touched anything that wasn’t a Separatist droid. The first living flesh her weapon had met was that of Dreg, or as their superiors knew him, CT-2803. The rest of the day was a blur. She might have killed York too if she hadn’t paid attention and saw that he was returning their squad’s fire to protect her._

_She felt a hand on her shoulder. “Command was trying to hail me. They’ll be on their way here soon.” She glanced at the hand, then York’s face. He was forcing a smile for her. She appreciated the gesture, but she just murdered dozens of men she had served with for years._

_The Jedi finally spoke, voice delicate, “What did you tell them?”_

_“Nothing. Destroyed my communicator…But we need to get out of here fast.” York paused, “I think saw a settlement out east somewhere before we crashed. If they have a spaceport we can find a way off this rock; get as far away from as we can.”_

_Her eyes started to blur with tears again. The Order was all she knew. How would she even begin to pretend to be anything else?_

_York’s other hand took the cloak, and he brushed his thumb back and forth over the material. He finished, “…Lyana, we need to do this. They need to think we’re dead.”_

_“I’m not leaving my lightsaber.” Lyana deadpanned; the same assertive tone Mara had grown up with. Lyana’s grip tightened on her cloak, but York was right. They had to leave something behind, even if it just bought them some time._

_York let go of the cloak and pulled her close. “I understand,” he murmured. Lyana slowly stepped forward, approaching York’s blaster rifle with the cloak in hand. She held it out by the sleeves and tied them around the end of the weapon. Her gaze lingered on her master's lightsaber as she stood again, stepping around his armor. She would probably have to leave her armor behind too. Lyana had donned that armor before they landed on the planet, confident the war would be ending soon. The thought had crossed her mind that after the Galaxy was safe and peaceful again that she would become a real Jedi Knight and would have the choice to go on a pilgrimage with York as her protector. She tried to smile at the thought, but couldn't._

_She didn't think that her entire world would fall to pieces._

Karabast.

Poe spoke behind her, “Woah…Mara?”

She blinked, feeling his hand on her back.

“Mara, what’s wrong? What did you see?” He sounded concerned. Why was he concerned?

She reached up to her cheek and felt a tear. Mara blinked and wiped it away quickly. “Um…” she began softly, “This…This is where it ended for her."

"For who?"

Knowing no other way to say it, Mara forced a laugh and said, "My mother." Her throat was tight, and she did her best not to think more on what they had gone through there.

Poe nodded, his hand moving up to her shoulder to give her a comforting squeeze. After a heavy moment, he pointed at the armor briefly with his other hand. He hesitated, "...So who else was here?"

Mara didn't speak, instead glancing up at him.

"People don't normally wear two sets of armor," Poe clarified, "...And I think we both know that's not Lyana's lightsaber down there." He gestured toward the lightsaber in the ground. Lyana's lightsaber was currently attached to Mara's belt, split into two weapons.

Mara said simply, "Her master died first."

There was another moment of silence between them, broken again when Poe said, "...Do you wanna stay for a bit or—?"

"Let's head back." Mara said before he could finish.

"—O-kay then." He nodded, clapping his hands together to punctuate the remark.

Mara turned back toward the ship, barely noticing that Poe wasn't behind her.

She began walking briskly back to the ship, hearing Poe call after her: "Don't worry about me or anything—I'll catch up later!"

***

Everyone, including Vee-Four and Bee-Bee, hadn't spoken a word since taking off from Radhii. Mara was more than happy with that. She didn't particularly want to have a long heartfelt discussion aboutwhat had happened. She needed some time to adjust to what she had learned.

She had grown up only seeing her mother as an unbroken, hardened officer. Lyana was never a very affectionate parent, and was even less so when teaching Mara how to manipulate the Force and wield her saberstaff.

Mara had quite literally stepped into her mother's shoes on Radhii. Everything her mother felt, everything her mother heard, everything her mother did—Mara had experienced it as if she had been there herself. Of course she was too consumed in thought to make up some pointless small talk.

However, the silence eventually got to Poe. In the corner of her eye Mara saw Poe fidget in the copilot's seat before he finally said, "I know I'm not some all-powerful Jedi like you, but I think—"

Mara deadpanned, "I'm not a Jedi."

"Fine, but I still think we should be talking about something." He paused but Mara didn't reply, so he continued, "...Like how you just saw the exact moment your mom's life imploded...or how I made you wait half an hour before we could fly off-world?" Poe seemed more interested in an answer to the second half of his statement, judging by how his tone slowed and trailed off.

"Okay, fine: Why did you make me sit here waiting for you to catch up?" At least he gave her the option not to talk about her mother.

Poe pointed over his shoulder at the bundle he had placed behind his chair. She hadn't had time to tell him to go store it in his bunk before they took off, and she'd nearly forgotten him bringing it inside the Warden. He said, "I was trying to do something nice for you."

Mara engaged the hyperdrive once she set a course for his rendezvous with the rest of his squadron. She swiveled the pilot's chair to face him, seeing him glancing between her and the nav-puter. Poe blurt out, "Wait, why are you going back to Vardos? We were just getting started."

"I'm bringing you back to your team in time for your next mission, but that's not what we're talking about right now," Mara said coolly, "What's in the bag, Poe?"

He frowned at her, reaching for the bundle instead of speaking. Poe dragged it between them, untying what Mara recognized as the Jedi cloak from the memorial on Radhii. He threw the cloak open, revealing the blaster rifle, both sets of Jedi armor, and Lyana's master's lightsaber.

Mara eyed the objects for a moment, then shifted her gaze back up to Poe. "Why?" she asked, or rather demanded.

"I thought you'd appreciate it with all the Jedi tomb-raiding stuff. You've been studying all this ancient history so I guess I thought it'd be nice to give you some stuff you could tell your kids about your history."

"On what planet do you think I'd be a mother?" Mara furrowed her brow. She'd never thought about the possibility, but that knee-jerk reaction answered that question pretty effectively.

"I dunno," Poe snapped back, shrugging and turning away, "Maybe Yavin 4? Maybe I just thought you were the kinda person who'd want to just go home and settle down after all this is over—"

"You're assuming I'm gonna make it out of this war alive in the first place—"

"—You're not giving yourself enough credit."

She was being realistic. Sooner or later, she would wind up a First Order prisoner and no one would ever see her again. The First Order was far bigger than the Resistance, and had a lot more firepower. One Force-user didn't stand a chance against them. Mara took a breath and said, "And I think you're giving me too much credit."

"So you want me to just forget that time last week where you barreled through half of a hutt's entire security team before I got there to break you out?"

“One mining syndicate and the First Order are two entirely different things."

Poe shook his head.

"I don't do big skirmishes, okay?" Mara explained, "I don't do big heroics, or dramatic struggles between good and evil. I'm just the person General Organa sends to get the intelligence that people like you need to do your missions."

"People like me? You do realize our jobs are almost identical, right?" Poe forced a laugh, "Only difference is I'm not scared of wearing the starbird while I do it." He pointed briefly at his shoulder, where the old Rebel Alliance's insignia rest.

Mara spat, "I don't do what I do out of fear, Poe! I do it to keep you alive!"

The two of them watched each other in silence for a long time. The only sounds were the slight rattles within the hull of the ship that Mara had become used to.

With one final huff, Poe finally stood from the co-pilot's chair and said sharply, "...Let me know when we coming up on Vardos."


End file.
